Onlookers watched as the heavy goods vehicle drove up, positioned itself and dumped a massive pile of the orange root vegetables in the street.

As the images were shared on social media, the answer to the unusual sight because clear - the carrots are an art installation.

Goldsmiths art college, University of London, revealed they are the work of Rafael Pérez Evans for his Masters in Fine Art degree show.

A Goldsmiths spokesperson said: "The carrots are an installation called ‘Grounding’ by the artist Rafael Pérez Evans.

"Rafael has just completed his Masters in Fine Art at Goldsmiths and his work has been installed as part of the MFA degree show, which runs from 2 – 6 October www.goldsmithsmfa.com ).

"Rafael has arranged for the carrots to be removed at the end of the exhibition run and donated to animals. There’s more information on his website."

The roots of the installation, the website explains, comes from European farmers' protests.

"Dumping is a form of protest, regularly used by European farmers that react against a central government which devalues their labour, agency and produce to points of ridiculousness.

"This devaluation often produces an enforced invisibility, which is often reciprocated by farmers who create hyper-visible gestures by dumping their devalued produce.

"Vegetables such as carrots or potatoes become monumental barricades that can block governmental buildings or roads and with it interrupt the usual city flow."

On the website, Rafael mentions his work "explores some of the tensions in visibility between the rural and the city".

It explains: "​The artist will explore ​grounding the large Ben Pimlott glass building in Goldsmiths college, by dumping 29 tonnes of fresh unwanted carrots into it.

"Bringing into contact two disparate forms: a large contemporary glass university building and fresh carrots, Perez Evans borrows the gesture of dumping from European farmers’ protests to transform it into a sculptural tool for grounding​."